Election Commission of India has bought in a bit of a change in the polling dates of the two Parliamentary constituencies of Goa by changing the poll dates from 17th to 12th of April and the polling date in the Hazaribagh constituency of the Jharkhand state has been postponed from 10th of April to 17th of April. Both these changes have been incorporated keeping the festival season in mind.

Phase wise Elections Dates

The wait is finally over for the country as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the dates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Originally speculated to be held in five-six phases, the 16th general election will actually be held in nine phases spreading just over a month. Here’s the breakup of phase-wise dates:

Phase I: 7 April 2014

Phase II: 9 April 2014

Phase III: 10 April 2014

Phase IV: 12 April 2014

Phase V: 17 April 2014

Phase VI: 24 April 2014

Phase VII: 30 April 2014

Phase VIII: 7 May 2014

Phase IX: 12 May 2014

The first phase will be a lightweight one, as only the states of Assam and Tripura will be covered. Assam will vote for five parliamentary constituencies, while Tripura will vote for one. The counting of votes will be carried out on 16 May 2014, which will reveal which party emerges strong enough to form the government in the centre.

Apart from these, assembly elections for four states are also being conducted. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh will also vote to elect their respective Chief Minister, as the constitutional term of the government comes to an end.